Tag: GMO
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APHIS Seeks Comments on GM Sugar Beet Assessment
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published a notice of its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically modified (GM) sugar beets. The agency had previously deregulated sugar beets genetically modified for glyphosate resistance without preparing an EIS and was ordered in September 2009 by…
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Defamation Verdict Against Peruvian Scientist in GM Maize Research Dispute to Be Reviewed
According to a news source, the Peruvian Superior Court has agreed to hear an appeal filed by a medical sciences biotechnologist convicted of defamation by a lower court for criticizing another scientist whose research allegedly showed that genetically modified (GM) maize had been illegally planted in a valley on the Peruvian coast. The researcher, Antonietta…
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GeneWatch UK Director Resigns from FSA Steering Group on GM Foods
GeneWatch UK Director Helen Wallace has apparently resigned from a Food Standards Agency (FSA) steering committee dedicated to discussing genetically modified (GM) foods, after claiming that the group “is nothing more than a PR exercise on behalf of the GM industry.” Charged with managing a public dialogue on the potential risks and benefits of GM…
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European Union Allows Madeira to Remain Free of GMOs
The European Union has reportedly allowed Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal located 500 kilometers from the African coast, to prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the archipelago. According to The New York Times, the European Commission “quietly” let the deadline pass for opposing the GMO ban, which Portuguese officials claimed was…
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Animal Study Links Dietary Phosphate to Accelerated Aging
A recent study has reportedly linked “dietary and genetic evidence for phosphate toxicity” to premature aging in genetically engineered (GE) mice. Mutsuko Ohnishi and M. Shawkat Razzaque, “Dietary and genetic evidence for phosphate toxicity accelerating mammalian aging,” FASEB Journal, April 2010. Researchers first used “an in vivo genetic approach to determine the role of phosphate toxicity in…
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U.S. Supreme Court Considers GE Alfalfa Dispute
Oral argument in litigation over whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) properly deregulated a genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa seed took place before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 27, 2010. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S.). The Ninth Circuit imposed a ban on use of the GE seed until the USDA…
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EU Agrees to Remove U.S. Rice Import Restrictions
A committee of European Union (EU) member state officials has reportedly decided to cease imposing U.S. rice import restrictions which had been in place since 2006 when genetically modified (GM) rice was found in conventional rice supplies. U.S. rice could be sold in the EU over the past four years only if certified as free…
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Consumer & Organic Interests Challenge U.S. Draft Position on Codex Labeling for GM Products
A coalition of groups representing farmers, public health, environmental, and organic food interests has submitted a comment to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeking changes to the draft position on labeling genetically modified (GM) products that the U.S. Codex delegate plans to bring to the May 3-7, 2010,…